Seems like a Southland family got busted attempting to give naval submarine secrets to China.

Two brother and their spouses, as well as one son, were convicted or pleaded guilty to among other things, “failing to register as an agent of a foreign government.” Appears China was very interested in getting their hands on a CD full of military info a couple of the family members tried to sneak onto a plane before they got popped.

No clues as to why they did it — money? fame? infamy? — in this account from the United States Attorney’s Office. Just the facts, ma’am.

Good morning from the dark corners of the county you live and work in … Morning report — May 23, 2007

The Los Angeles Police Department blog notes the untimely death of one of its Top-10 most wanted gang members. Apparently there was a way out for Rudy Magana, a Compton Tortilla Flats gang member, who took his own life as Sheriffs deputies with the gang unit attempted to arrest him in Long Beach. Magana was wanted for the Jan. 20 shooting death of his sister’s former boyfriend. The sister and victim had been arguing over the custody of their son. Magana became angry with the victim and shot and killed him.lapdblog
There is a San Fernando Valley connection. Turns out Magaa had been living with his sister at an apartment in the 9500 block of Van Nuys Boulevard.Earlier

A Ukrainian man was sentenced to life in prison for his part in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that resulted in the killing of five people – three from the San Fernando Valley – whose bodies were found in a Northern California reservoir. He didn’t get the death penalty because he said the Russian mob threatened to kill him and his family if he didn’t take part.Associated Press via dailynews.com

My colleague Alex Dobuzinskis writes about a Santa Clarita man and his wife being sentenced to 22 years in prison for their role in an insurance scam that staged crashes on freeways.dailynews.com

No soup for this guy … A 21-year-old Palmdale man was arrested at Vons. Apparently he told workers he was going to “pull out his gun and shoot” when he was asked to leave for eating soup from the deli bar. At a Jons market, a woman was arrested for stealing more than $400 in liquor.glendalenewspress.com

Marion “Suge” Knight is back in the news, this time with money woes. From The Smoking Gun …

… the bankrupt rap music titan expects to soon downgrade to a $10,000-a-month rental … While the majority of his monthly nut is listed as “Support,” other records indicate that Knight has not been paying court-ordered child support payments (for four children by three women) and is in arrears for $545,681.